View full sizeJohn Michael Spencer, owner of JMS Acoustics in Bethlehem, testified Monday that Skelly and Loy, the engineering firm used by IDI to create the report, did not use the appropriate statistical levels to make that determination.Express-Times Photo | JOHN BEST

Industrial Developments International seeks approval for an 822,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center at Hecktown and Newburg roads in the township.

Monday, the fifth round of hearings concerning IDI’s application for conditional use, featured an acoustics expert who testified that a noise report submitted by IDI does not address township ordinances.

Last October, IDI presented supervisors with an acoustic report that said the activities at the proposed 24-hour warehouse would not exceed township noise laws.

John Michael Spencer, owner of JMS Acoustics in Bethlehem, testified that Skelly and Loy, the engineering firm used by IDI to create the report, did not use the appropriate statistical levels to make that determination.

Township ordinances specify the maximum decibels allowable for businesses but Spencer asserted the IDI report used sound level averages for its calculations.

Spencer on Monday went through the IDI report, which detailed average noise levels, including warning beepers as trucks back up and ambient noise created by truck traffic.

“If you use an average, that will be lower than the maximum sound,” Spencer said. “They didn’t use the right type of levels.”

Spencer said IDI's expert should have used the maximum possible levels in order to assess if the warehouse would comply with township ordinances.

“I think the report is fundamentally flawed,” Spencer told attorney Nicholas Noel, who represents nearby resident George Cortelyou. “I am not saying it will be above the town’s ordinances. I’m not saying it will be below ordinances. I am saying there is insufficient information.”

The IDI plans call for a more than 20-foot-high berm along the eastern and northern borders of the property. When asked whether noise would be contained at the site, Spencer said, “There’s not enough information or analysis to conclude one way or the other."

Other testimony included Cortelyou, who lives on neighboring Val Vista Drive. At last week’s hearing, Cortelyou showed a video taken from a dashboard camera in his car. The video documented local truck traffic -- in particular, trucks parked on Hecktown Road’s shoulder -- causing safety issues.

Cortelyou contends that a new 24-hour facility, which may introduce more than 500 truck trips per day, would exacerbate the problem.

“Does it occur to you that trucks wait on the side of the road precisely because they are waiting for facilities that are not open 24 hours?” IDI’s attorney Blake Marles asked.

The hearing will continue 5 p.m. April 8 at the Lower Nazareth Elementary School cafeteria.